Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Kristi for Governor Declines Debate Hosted by SDPB

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA – Today, in response to an inquiry from South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) regarding why Governor Noem does not plan to participate in their gubernatorial debate, the Kristi for Governor campaign announced that they will not be participating in the debate due to extreme leftist slant from National Public Radio (NPR) and SDPB.

“For years, we have watched as NPR and SDPB both drifted further and further to the left. The final straw was NPR eliminating the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the 4^th of July,” said Ian Fury, Communications Director for Kristi for Governor. “In the past, Governor Noem has made clear that she will not participate in debates hosted by hyper-partisan organizations or outlets. SDPB has repeatedly promoted the radical effort to re-write American history and cancel our Founding Fathers. As Governor Noem said at Mount Rushmore, ‘To attempt to cancel the Founding generation is an attempt to cancel our own freedoms.’ Governor Noem has participated in this debate in the past, but SDPB’s extreme leftward swing precludes the possibility of a fair debate.”

Earlier this week, the Kristi for Governor campaign accepted a debate invitation from Dakota News Now and KOTA/KEVN, and Governor Noem challenged her Democrat opponent to do the same.

On July 4, 2022, NPR eliminated its annual tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence and replaced it with a discussion on “what equality means.”

SDPB has repeatedly voiced opposition to Governor Noem’s efforts to promote a true and honest teaching of American history. Last year, they brought Marxist professor Ibram X. Kendi on the air to criticize Governor Noem’s efforts. Kendi’s radical teachings reject the basic fabric of American society with statements like “Capitalism is essentially racist.” SDPB did nothing to press him on these claims.

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I noticed yesterday as I was doing some web updating that Republican Secretary of State Candidate Monae Johnson has apparently made some changes in her branding. And, I hate to be a nit-picker, but iI would argue that it’s not for the better.

Here’s what Johnson was using for her branding pre-convention on her website at monaeforsouthdakota.com:

The website was fairly simple, but it got her message across.  Moving past convention, it looks like some rebranding is going on:

 

Um.. I hate to ask, who decided this? Because this is not better.

When I look at a candidate’s logo, I’m thinking how it’s going to read on a 4×8 highway sign, or a yard sign. First off, candidates should not alter the letters in their name. Dropping the star in the “O” made it more challenging to read, especially with the artsy fonts they’re using. Plus, they shrunk the office to being unreadable in the logo.

A candidate has two basic things they need to get across to a voter – name and office.  While the old logo could have been tweaked or left alone and been just fine, this new one is all over the place.

I’d go back to the drawing board before they spend a lot of money on this. Otherwise, I anticipate they’ll be changing it again down the road.

Thune to Democrats: Stop Standing in the Way of American Energy Production

“Unless Democrats want this inflation crisis to continue forever, and Americans to be facing staggering prices at the pump and on store shelves for the long term, then the administration needs to start encouraging domestic production of conventional energy.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed how the Democrats’ radical energy agenda has helped create record-high inflation and soaring fuel prices. Thune argued that Congress and the administration should instead pursue a pro-growth agenda that reduces the United States’ reliance on foreign countries for oil, cuts costs for hardworking families, and helps restore America’s energy independence.

The Rapid City Journal is reporting today on State Representative Phil Jensen’s activities with the far right “Oath Keepers” militia, with Jensen admitting membership, but claiming it was only for a year.

And Phil points to how it had to be innocent, highlighting his non-violence by reminding people that he was a contentious objector in Vietnam:

“I wish I had a more exciting story for you,” the District 33 representative said. “In 2014 I was sitting at my desk in the Senate chambers and I had read some information about the Oath Keepers. I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the South Dakota Constitution, and it seemed like a good group of guys to belong to.”

and..

Jensen said those activities aren’t part of his nature. He even filed as a conscientious objector when he was drafted during the Vietnam War.

We might have to put this in the self-indulgence column.

A poetry event is taking place later this week in Sioux Falls to raise money for abortions (national network of abortion funds), and as part of promoting it, the event is noting their speakers include Kadyn Wittmann, “Representative Elect for District 15.”

And the candidate is only too happy to promote this herself..

The only problem with this is that except in her own mind, District 15 Democrat Kadyn Wittman hasn’t been elected to doodly yet.  And she probably should not let her ego get the cart before the horse.

District 15 has traditionally been a place where Republicans have not been able to make much headway because of the composition of the district in the last several configurations. But since the most recent redistricting, Kadyn should probably stop making premature coronation plans.

Because she’s actually running in a Republican District by around 500 votes.

That’s a fairly even split in the district. Despite Kadyn already claiming the crown, anyone who can read the numbers should know that D15 is not a district anyone can count on at this point.

And I certainly would not be displaying the hubris to term myself as “Representative Elect” before the election is even held.

Kristi for Governor Accepts Debate Invitation from Dakota News Now and KOTA/KEVN

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA – Today, the Kristi for Governor campaign accepted an invitation to a gubernatorial debate co-hosted by Dakota News Now and KOTA/KEVN. The debate will take place in Rapid City on September 30, shortly after the opening of early absentee voting. Governor Noem sent a letter to Representative Jamie Smith announcing that she accepted the debate invitation and challenging him to do the same.

“Now that I have accepted the invitation, I challenge you to do the same and await your answer,” Governor Noem wrote in the letter to Representative Smith. “Voters deserve the opportunity to hear from the two of us on a wide variety of issues, especially those on which we do not see eye-to-eye. I look forward to a spirited, fact-driven conversation, and I trust that you hope for the same.”

The debate co-hosted by Dakota News Now and KOTA/KEVN will be the first and final debate that Governor Noem participates in this election cycle.

The letter from Governor Noem to Representative Smith is attached.

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Thune: A Victory for Life

“The Supreme Court’s decision puts the question of abortion back in the hands of the states and the people and their elected representatives – where it should always have been.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to return the question of abortion to the states and the people and their elected representatives. Thune applauded the pro-life movement for its decades-long commitment to defending the unborn and criticized Democrats for using scare tactics and misinformation to create a false narrative that pro-life laws will prevent women from getting essential medical care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.

As part of a nod to diversity, South Dakota Democrats point to having a member of the LGBTQ+ community on their statewide ballot in the form of Stephanie Lynn Marty, a 70 year-old Transgender Activist, who appeared before the Democrat convention (in a video) and won the nomination for State Auditor.

Marty started out earlier in the campaign season with a third place finish in the District 11 House Democrat Primary.

Why would they pick someone to run for Auditor who had come in third in a state legislative primary a few weeks ago?  Well, she has a pulse for one.

But as evidenced by a recent interview, it might be her extreme positions that were more attractive to the Democrat ticket:

..we need to develop a tax structure that brings balance to the system.  We’ve spent years where candidates promise to cut taxes, while all they do is drive the costs down to lower levels of government.  Maybe it’s time to say that my responsibility is to make the system less regressive, which means some taxes will go up, and some taxes will go down.

and..

..We need to stop saying we won’t raise taxes when we need to rebalance the system.  We should consider a wealth tax, a windfall profits tax, a corporate tax on larger corporations and reinstating the inheritance tax on millionaires…

and..

Creating non-partisan primaries where the top two candidate move to the general election may be the answer…

Read the entire interview here at Dakota News Now.

Good gosh.

One of the Democrat candidates believes we need to “create a new tax structure” and make “some taxes go up?”  Corporate income taxes, and bringing back the death tax on farmers wishing to pass estates on to their kids.  Taxes, taxes, and more taxes.

And throwing in the crazy jungle primary, because she wants us to be more like California.

So extreme she couldn’t get through a Democrat Primary, and so Democrats move her to the top of their statewide ticket?

Good luck with that one.

The Democrat Convention this past weekend has provided interesting commentary from the new challenger for the office of Public Utilities Commissioner. The only problem is that the commentary communicates an absolute bias against a matter in front of the PUC coming from someone running to serve  on that panel. From this weekend –  Keloland 7/10/22

The PUC is considering a state permit for a proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline that would collect carbon dioxide from various ethanol plants in the region and bury the gas in North Dakota.

“The CO2 pipeline, it’s, it’s really a terrible thing,” Barth said. He noted that when Dan Lederman, the South Dakota Republican chairman, first brought the proposal to the Minnehaha County Commission, Barth thought, “Oh okay, what is this?

“And the more I found about it, the more I turned against it. It can explode. It can kill you by asphyxiation. This is going to make a lot of money, for some people, but not that much for anybody in South Dakota. Certainly some of our ethanol plants are excited to have it. But they’ve been operating without this pipeline for thirty years.

Read that here.

And it isn’t just convention-fueled political hyperbole, he’s also put his objections in writing to the commission.

Claiming a pipeline is “a terrible thing” that can “explode” and “kill you by asphyxiation” would appear to be an insurmountable bias, which is particularly troubling for someone running to serve on a quasi-judicial body.  If you’re elected to be a fair and impartial judge on utility matters before the commission, how does that work when you are campaigning on being anything but impartial?

It doesn’t. And will automatically invite the state going to court going to court over it – and likely losing.

As explained six years ago in the Argus Leader (10/26/2016), PUC Commissioners are expected to act with much more impartiality:

(Chris) Nelson sees himself as an impartial judge of energy infrastructure projects and proposed energy rate hikes and a champion for extending broadband access to underserved rural populations.

Nelson has declined to take a position on future pipelines, power plants or wind energy projects and says doing so would taint his ability to act as a judge of the facts. Were he to show his hand before a hearing, Nelson said, he’d almost certainly be asked to recuse himself by a permit applicant.

State law expects impartiality from commissioners as they weigh electric rates and energy projects, Nelson said.

“People ask me ‘are you pro-pipeline or anti-pipeline?’ That question is irrelevant,” Nelson said. “We serve in a judicial capacity.”

Read that here.

And in fact, on this project, Commissioner Kristie Fiegen removed herself because the proposed pipelines would cross land owned by her sister-in-law (husband’s sister) and her husband.  It wasn’t even a direct conflict, but because it affected a relation, she felt the needs for a palms-up recusal.

The kind of impartiality from Commissioner Nelson and Commissioner Fiegen are what South Dakota voters expect from their Public Utility Commissioner. Not declarations that they are running to oppose specific projects.  And here’s where Barth may have inadvertently gotten himself into trouble.

It’s not the first time it’s come up, as back in 1990, Democrat Commissioner Ken Stofferahn got himself drug into court for similar biases when he declared US West Communications were  “jackals in lambskins,” and they hauled the PUC into court demanding a recusal because of his bias.  They didn’t grant a blanket recusal, but they recognized that you don’t get to be a crusader:

The trial court was correct in the factual findings relating to Stofferahn’s unalterably closed mind, bias and prejudice and the judgment declaring that Stofferahn should be disqualified in cases pending at the time of the entry of the declaratory judgment. This does not mean, however, that Stofferahn cannot or will not adopt a different attitude at some time in the future. This very real possibility was specifically recognized and addressed in the trial court’s memorandum opinion which was made part of the findings of fact and conclusions of law:

Although Commissioner Stofferahn argues he has put aside his prior views and can fairly judge USWC, he has never recanted his views on the competitive status of telecommunication services in this state, an issue critical to the disposition of future deregulation and classification proceedings. Furthermore, it is evident he continues to adhere to that view as he argues to this Court that his statements were justified by his good faith concern to attract public attention to “the dangers of the legislation.”

And..

In summary, we affirm the judgment disqualifying Stofferahn from participating as a member of the PUC where the material facts, law or policy involved in the docket concerns the deregulation or classification of telecommunication services, or involves the determination of the competitive status of telecommunication services of pending dockets, and also affirm the denial of USWC’s request that Stofferahn be disqualified in all future cases where USWC is a party.

The judgment declaring Stofferahn disqualified in all future dockets involving USWC where the material facts, law or policy involved in the docket involves the deregulation or classification of telecommunication services, or involves the determination of the competitive status of telecommunication services of future dockets is reversed.

Read that here.

So there’s a good chance he’s going to be forever disqualified from hearing these matters he’s campaigning on because of his already expressed bias. It won’t be a blanket ban, because at least the 1990 court wouldn’t allow that, but I’m guessing CO2 pipeline owners have a pretty good basis to force the matter to hearing to at least attempt to disqualify him. And there’s a good chance they may win.

While Jeff is entitled to his opinion, he probably should have run for another office if he’s going to be an anti-pipeline crusader. Because his position and anti-pipeline advocacy are incompatible with the job he’s placing his name on the ballot for, and I have no doubt they’ve taken note.